Diversifying Partnerships in Climate Action by Leveraging Diaspora Potential
When people move, their ideas, talents, and knowledge move with them. Yet, migrants’ ties to their homes and the relations built across borders remain.
Born in Chișinău, in the Republic of Moldova, Victoria Căpătici now lives in the outskirts of Oxford, England. She moved in 2019, to develop her career in the development sector. However, she never forgot her original homeland. The desire to help her country and community in Moldova inspired her to co-found ‘Diaspora Connect’, which is a network of Moldovan professionals abroad who interact with each other, and offer public institutions, the media, or organizations in Moldova the opportunity to contact and collaborate with them.
Victoria is now thinking of using this platform and the connections she has formed to support climate action in Moldova. “With every snowless Christmas, the sweltering hot summers spent back at home and hearing from relatives about their struggles to protect crops, my concerns for our climate increased,” she says. Climate change is affecting all corners of the world and affects people’s livelihoods, the economy, and human security.
Like Victoria, many diaspora members are eager to support climate action in their heritage countries. Diasporas are already contributing their skills, knowledge, connections and resources to the development of their countries of origin and are often the first ones to respond when disaster strike.
To leverage this untapped potential, IOM UK’s Diaspora for Climate Action (D4C) project, funded by the IOM Development Fund, fosters collaboration on climate action between UK-based diasporas from Bangladesh, Ghana, Jamaica, and Moldova and national and local actors including governments from the respective countries. D4C promotes an innovative approach to diaspora engagement and aims to offer a model for other countries to diversify partnerships for climate action. The project also highlights diasporas as key partners in climate action and promotes good practices of collaboration in the climate sector.
D4C’s research aimed to better understand the opportunities and challenges of leveraging diasporas’ financial, human, and social capitals to accelerate national climate action in the heritage countries, and made recommendations for governments, diasporas, and international organizations.
“The UK is home to some of the largest diaspora communities worldwide. Their contributions are key to accelerating climate action and addressing one of the greatest challenges of our time.”
Christa Rottensteiner, Chief of Mission, IOM United Kingdom
In May 2024, IOM UK organized a two-day capacity development workshop for Diaspora Climate Champions where 16 diaspora changemakers, like Victoria, were provided with the platform and tools to become climate leaders and inspire change within their communities. The capacity development sessions focused on climate change terminologies and frameworks, leadership, communication, and resource mobilization. This led to diasporas collectively drafting eight action plans to address climate priorities in their countries of heritage.
Proposed initiatives include, tackling rapid urbanization in Bangladesh by working with universities and youth on sustainable planning, green diaspora bonds, and formalising the waste collection in Ghana’s secondary cities.
Victoria’s action plan builds on the Diaspora Connect platform, by proposing to connect climate change and environmental sustainability experts in the Moldovan diaspora in a joint effort to raise awareness of climate change in Moldova.
D4C has provided one of few platforms for diasporas to highlight their initiatives and expertise on climate action in national and international platforms, including at the 27th and 28th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
At the national level, D4C is organizing dialogues in the four target countries to foster collaborations between diasporas and national stakeholders on climate action in the heritage countries. The first National Dialogue was held in Ghana on 25th July and it offered an opportunity for diaspora and national stakeholders to discuss solutions on waste management, green buildings and climate change awareness.
D4C is already supporting a successful government-led initiative in Moldova, the ‘Diaspora Succeeds at Home’ (DAR 1+3), which connects diasporas with the government, local authorities, and development partners to support local development projects. The D4C co-funded two projects focusing on renewable energy and retrofitting a local school in rural Moldova. These projects are currently in the initial stages of implementation.
“I am happy for the success of this project, because we have managed to be a leader in the region in integrating climate change and migration issues. Climate change also has a considerable effect on migration, so the results of the project’s research are very welcome.”
Iordanca Rodica Iordanov, Former Minister of the Environment, Republic of Moldova
Bridging diasporas with governments and other national actors in climate action contributes to the Global Compact for Migration (objectives 2, 5, 18, 19, and 20), and Sustainable Development Goals (7, 10, 13, and 17).
Funded by the IOM Development Fund, D4C is expected to serve as a model for other countries to diversify partnerships in climate action by integrating invaluable diasporas contributions.
